To Droid or not to droid, is that a question you are asking yourselves as you look at the choices of smartphones? I broke down over a year ago and bought the Apple iPhone 4S model and really like having it except for a couple of snags. I purchased the minimum data plan mostly because I really didn’t like the idea of surfing the web on something that small and didn’t want to pay the $50 a month for that privilege.  And for a year that philosophy worked out great as I never hit the minimum data usage. If I was going to do a bunch of updates, web surfing, and the like, I did it when I was connected to a wi-fi hotspot.

Come to find out, the iPhone is worse than a computer when it comes to phoning home because it seems like every app that you download wants to phone home. And unfortunately, one of those apps went berserk and pushed me over my limit. Turned out to be an Apple software snag that did it. The Calendar application decided that it needed to update itself via the cloud constantly. Fortunately, there was a quick fix from Apple but it did cost me a hit on the data plan.  So now I spend time monitoring the data use to make sure there aren’t any other data hogs out there.  Too bad there wasn’t a better app for that.

Enough of the Time Change

Indiana used to be one of those pleasant states that never bothered with the changing times and we really lived a blissful life not having to worry about when daylight savings time is going to interrupt the routines. Having succumbed to conforming with most of the country (except for Arizona, Hawaii, and a few of the islands); I am discovering that changing the clocks is getting to be a real pain.  Have you ever counted how many you have to change? At last count, I have 33 different items with clocks that need to be updated. You notice, that list does not count cable boxes, computers, weather stations, and cell phones; who have the decency to do it themselves; while there are others that just aren’t worth the effort to change.  To the right is a giant pocket watch from the Indiana History Museum and yes, it tells the correct time.

Does everything have to have a clock in it ?? I understand the clocks in the bedrooms, kitchen, living room, and elsewhere that have some nice designs  to them  and I have to admit, not every one of them will get changed or even have batteries in them (no wonder my battery expenses are so high !!) but it seems that every where I turn, there is a clock that needs updating.  In my home office alone, there are thirteen devices that will tell me the time; hmm, just found two more. Is this an addiction or a curse?